College Football is BACK!
And in Norman it begins Illinois State visiting Oklahoma at Gaylord Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Saturday August 30th at 5pm.
WWLS The Sports Animal delivers Total Coverage of every Oklahoma Sooners football game at home in our Dobson Fiber Mobile Studio trailer delivered by Seth Wadley Ford AND on the road with pre and post-game coverage anchored in-studio by Matt Meyer and on-site with Jim Traber, Al Eschbach and more of The Animals. Catch the latest College Football Scoreboard updates powered by Twin Peaks.
Stream all the coverage on TheSportsAnimal.com or The Sports Animal App, iHeartRadio, Audacy App, TuneIn or on Alexa or Google. All postgame shows are also available on-demand on the College Football Coverage podcast page after the games.
SAT 08/30/25 WWLS – Gameday Schedule
12:30p: Unsportsmanlike Conduct with The Morning Animals LIVE sponsored by the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort in Shawnee.
2p: Countdown to Kickoff/McBride Orthopedic Hospital GameTime inside the Dobson Fiber Mobile Studio from Historic Campus Corner in Norman driven by Eskridge Lexus of Oklahoma City. Jim Traber and Al Eschbach preview the game and the season with special guests and more and take you all the way up to kickoff.
KICKOFF – 5p: Illinois State Redbirds (0-0 | Missouri Valley Conference) vs. #18 Oklahoma Sooners (0-0 | SEC Conference) | Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK | TV: ESPN+, SECNetwork+
Approx 8:30p: Football Feedback is LIVE right after the game inside the Dobson Fiber Mobile Studio across from Historic Campus Corner in Norman driven by Eskridge Lexus of Oklahoma City. Jim & Al deliver instant reaction to the game plus take your calls on the Lucky Star Lines at 405-900-9957 (WWLS) or texts on the Johnnie’s Kitchen and Bar Text Nation line, same number, 405-900-9957.
Approx 10:30p: College Locker Room show with Matt Meyer featuring all the days top headlines, scores and stories PLUS postgame audio, quotes and more from the coaches and players.
Game Previews
Matt Ravis: In year four of the Brent Venables era, the Sooners are like many SEC teams: desperately wanting to escape the middle, but facing a gauntlet of a schedule that will punish any down weeks.
Defensively, I believe they will as good as last year, even absent stalworts Danny Stutsman and Billy Bowman. There are questions about the secondary, but OU’s defensive line is class and will mask potential deficiencies in the backend.
Al Eschbach: It’s more of a dress rehearsal for both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State as the two teams open their 2025 football season. The Cowboys host UT Martin Thursday night while the Sooner get it going at home against Illinois State Saturday night. Things will get much more interesting next week. The Pokes have the daunting task of heading to seventh ranked Oregon. And we will know a lot more about OU as they entertain 14th ranked Michigan in the biggest collegiate game of Week 2.
Matt Meyer: The Oklahoma Sooners go into their second season in the SEC with high expectations on defense and optimism on offense. Brent Venables has remade the Oklahoma defense and the strength appears to be on the defensive line with R Mason Thomas returning on the edge and quality depth at DT. Sooners must replace their best two players on defense in LB Danny Stutsman and S Billy Bowman, and the secondary is battling some injuries in the preseason. Offensively, there’s a new QB in John Mateer and a new RB in Jaydn Ott, but the offensive line and receivers must be considerably better, and healthier, than a season ago if new OC Ben Arbuckle’s offense is going to put up points. Big time non conference game in Norman in week 2 with Michigan coming to town. OU must be at least 4-1 going to Dallas, as the Sooners end the season with six opponents ranked in the preseason top 25 over their final seven games. Oklahoma goes 8-4, showing improvement but coming up a win or two short of making the College Football Playoff.
